Thanks to Mike DeBow for alerting me to a new attempt to create the 51st state. It's the brainchild of Alabama Rep. Mary Moore, a Democrat from Birmingham. She's upset about the possibility that a big employer in her district (a gambling racetrack) might be shut down by the state. Her solution is to create a new state, named "Seven" (because it's the 7th Congressional District of Alabama). It's not just the racetrack issue that has Rep. Moore angry. She and the other members of Alabama's black caucus are livid because the state government "has done nothing for us." In a series of speeches on July 1st, Gov. Bob Riley was called a terrorist, liar, racist and "a wet nurse to Mississippi casinos." I'm not exactly sure what that last insult means, but the imagery stopped me in my tracks. Anyway, the map above shows the location of the 7th district. You can read the Birmingham News report here. While I'm all in favor of citizens working to create new and better states, Mary Moore needs a little branding help. "Seven" isn't a name people can rally around. How about "7-11." It ties in nicely with the gambling angle... and might lead to some corporate money from the convenience store chain. If naming rights for a stadium can sell for millions, think how much an entire state could haul in! Or, if you have a better idea for the new state's name... leave a comment!

2 comments:

"Oh, Alabama... You've got a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track..." Neil Young - 1971.

Legalized gambling won't bring an infusion of cash into an area unless you have the resources to turn it into a gambling Mecca for tourists. There are now over thirty US States with legalized casino gambling. It no longer is the guaranteed money machine it once was since we are reaching a gambling saturation point.

Mississippi placed its casinos on lovely (at the time) beaches to draw on the tourists that were already in the area. They also placed their casinos on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg and just south of the Memphis metro area in Tunica. Greene County Alabama won't draw anyone outside its immediate district to gamble at Greenetrack. It is not a full casino and there is nothing else in the county to attract them to come or stay. The fact that their representatives are making the news by acting like spoiled children won't get anyone interested in staying long in their midst. Why should I risk it when I can go to a real casino less than 125 miles from Greene County?

To have an elected official demand that her district secede from the State because she cannot legally break the law is pathetic and indicative of what is wrong with our country's society. Her words are divisive and angry. She demands justice when the racetrack was caught breaking the law and shut down. The problem is that the justice she demands is an insult to the rest of the State's voter base. She plays the race card when she doesn't get her way and she calls the State's Governor names and hurls insults when the racetrack isn't allowed to keep operating illegal gambling machines. In short, she gambled. She lost. She's crying over spilt milk.

Don't be surprised as the Alabama swelters over a long summer in the racial quagmire and miasma this representative is brewing.

You want jobs that will last? Try cleaning the oil soaked beaches along the Gulf. Send your populace south to help their neighbors on the coast. Build trust by working together to solve a problem rather than crying about your mistreatment due to a pesky little law which you'd like to break.

The clean up will take decades and only requires a willingness not to gamble on nature. Oh, that gamble against the force of nature didn't pay off for the oil companies or the Gulf States either.

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